White Wedding
is the twentieth episode of the seventh season and the 146th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy. Short Summary As Callie and Arizona's wedding approaches, the couple quickly realize that the day they've been looking forward to is not turning out the way they'd envisioned. Meanwhile Alex continues to make the other residents jealous as he appears to be the top contender for Chief Resident, Meredith and Derek make a decision that will change their lives forever, and Dr. Perkins presents Teddy with a very tempting proposition. Full Summary At a dinner with Arizona and Callie's parents, Arizona's dad is annoyed by Mark's presence, calling him "the sperm donor." Callie wants to say grace. Callie's mom also doesn't really want to hold her granddaughter. Alex is doing a presentation on the African children he's treating. One is Zola, a baby girl born with spina bifida. The other residents are annoyed that Alex is getting so much attention. He gets a slow clap. Derek takes a look at Zola. She's been in an orphanage. Teddy talks to the older brother of a young boy who appears to have a hole in chest. You can see his heart beating through his chest. Cristina is in awe. She runs to Hunt and says she needs to get herself back in the race for chief resident. He tells her she needs to apologize to Teddy. Cristina doesn't understand what she needs to apologize for. Hunt and Stark are about to treat a little girl and Stark notes that April is trying to explain to the girl in Swahili that they're trying to help. Stark mocks her for trying to learn a new language. Cristina apologizes to Teddy for going over her head on Callie's surgery. Teddy asks if she means it or if she's saying it to get back on her service. When Cristina asks if it really matters, Teddy says it does. Arizona's dad has put together a schedule for the wedding weekend, down to the minute. Arizona asks where the moment of silence is, and her dad says there was no time. Arizona wanted to observe the moment for her brother, Timothy. Mark shows up late and annoys Arizona's dad. Callie's dad welcomes him more, but says he'll knock him out if Sloan refers to him as his "father-in-law" again. Callie's mom again avoids holding the baby. Her dad steps in and takes Sofia. Avery is complaining to Lexie about "cleaning up mouse poop" in the chief's testing. Lexie assures him they'll get FDA approval soon and he'll soon be working on real patients. She, meanwhile, is practicing to remove sutures on Teddy's patient without puncturing his heart. Teddy goes to Hunt and asks for 20 good reasons why she shouldn't let Cristina back on her service because she's nearly ready to cave and needs Cristina's skills. Hunt can't think of one and says she should put Cristina back on her service. She says Cristina got lucky with Callie's surgery, but that she's dangerous and it could have been disastrous. Alex gives Derek and update on Zola. Meredith gives Derek notes on the second wave of Alzheimer's trial patients. When Derek leaves, Alex warns Meredith that whatever she did with the trial could be really bad, no matter how minor. She says she didn't doing anything and tells him to "shut up about it." April tries to tells Stark about the African girl not eating and he doesn't want to hear about it. She tells him he promised that they could work together and it "wouldn't be weird." He assures her he's treating her exactly like other residents. They both get an emergency page about the girl and go check on her. She's vomiting blood and April jumps into action. Callie and Arizona are trying to focus on the big picture and not having to deal with their parents after two more days. Stark and April are operating on the girl, who has internal TB (in addition to AIDS). April has the right suggestion for treatment. Derek is operating on Zola with Alex, and mentions to Alex that Meredith was the right choice for the Alzheimer's trial all along. Alex looks upset but says nothing. Teddy, meanwhile, is talking about her boyfriend who's in town and how she's just "enjoying what he's offering while he's offering," because he'll soon be off to some other part of the world. Avery is checking on his mice and talking to them. He sees one is unconscious. Callie shows her mom a veil she made to look like the one she wore at her wedding, but her mom doesn't have a favorable reaction. She tries to muster enough joy to say, "It's lovely." She finally says that there's nothing "about a wedding to a woman or a baby out of wedlock" that is for her. Callie cries and tells her, "I'm your daughter." Her mom says it's devastating to raise and love a child "and know you won't see that child in heaven." She tells Callie, "This isn't a wedding. It isn't right." She leaves, saying, "I can't be here. I just can't." Arizona sees Teddy's patient's older brother sitting in the hallway. He's devastated, saying this is his only brother and he doesn't want to lose him. She says she understands. Stark finds April in the cafeteria making a "sticky yellow mess." She's trying to make a porridge made in Africa. Stark mocks her at first for that, too, but when she passionately explains why she's doing what she can for her patient, he's speechless. Callie's dad says he's tried to reason with her mom, but Callie tells him he has to go. He doesn't want to, but she gives him a hug and send him on his way. At their house the next day, Alex isn't speaking to Meredith. He says he's practicing keeping his mouth such. She says she didn't tamper with any data. But he realizes she switched the syringe so some sweet old lady would get the drug. He tells her she's jeopardizing the hospital's reputation and that of every doctor there. He leaves when Derek shows up. Sloan comes and tells Callie the minister was in an accident and won't be able to make it. Callie is upset and says the whole thing is off. It was too hard to find a minister willing to marry them in the first place. Avery shows the chief an X-ray and a CT he did on the mouse. They couldn't see anything in it, so he did an MRI, too. That's $8,000 worth of scans. They realize they're putting the device in the wrong place, based on the scans. Derek is holding Zola when Meredith comes into the room and he asks her to hold the baby. Her neuro exam is good after he put in her shunt. He asks Meredith if they can adopt Zola. He says he was holding her and she stopped crying. He said he couldn't imagine her being with any other parent or family. She's stunned. Bailey shows up at Callie's place to find Callie distraught. She says the wedding is off and it's a joke. She can't have a priest, doesn't have a minister. She says it's "a couple of girls playing dress-up." Bailey tells her she doesn't need all those specific things to make a wedding. She says God is everywhere, so she doesn't need to be in a church. She says her mother hasn't caught up to God yet. She goes on to tell Callie more about what really makes a marriage. Bailey says she got legally to a man in a church and, "look how well that turned out." Lexie assists Teddy on the boy's heart surgery. Cristina is amazed at Teddy's work, but they say nothing to each other. Stark pulls Hunt aside and puts in a good word for April, saying that she has the "kind of caring that can't be taught." He says the hospital would be lucky to have her as the next chief resident. The chief thanks Avery for his work on the mouse and they celebrate as the mouse twitches and comes back to life. He tells Avery he might get his own slow clap one day. Sloan goes to pick Arizona up and she's upset that her brother is missing her wedding. She tells him all her time is accounted for and she needs a minute to miss her brother. Derek and Meredith are going through a ton of adoption paperwork. There is a big list of things they need to do to prove they're suitable to adopt. He says there's something they can cross off the list right now. Meredith says she didn't want to do that, but Derek says, "It's for the baby." We next see them walking into a courthouse and Derek says, "Let's get married." Bailey is nervous as the wedding is about to begin. She's going to officiate. Arizona's dad walks her down the aisle and Sloan follows by walking Callie down. Bailey asks who gives "this bride to this bride" (Callie to Arizona), and Sloan says, "That'd be me." Meanwhile, Derek and Meredith are in front of a judge who's working through a marriage like it's a bit of a chore. They don't have rings. He stamps a couple of pieces of paper and says that "by the laws of the state of Washington..." they're now husband and wife. The judge shakes Derek's hand and says, "Congratulations." At their wedding, Callie and Arizona exchange rings and the whole bit, and walk back down the aisle together. At the wedding reception, Hunt mentions that April is in the running for chief resident. The rest of the doctors laugh a bit. The chief, meanwhile, talks to Cristina about how surprised he is that she's not the front runner for chief resident. Cristina then tells Teddy she's sorry for being such a brilliant surgeon and sitting by while ruining her chances at chief resident. Teddy says Cristina still doesn't get it. Teddy's boyfriend tells her he's got a job offer at a prestigious hospital in Germany. He says he accepted on one condition: That they have a spot for his incredibly talented cardiothoracic surgeon. Derek and Meredith are visiting the baby they're going to adopt. Derek doesn't want to leave, even though they're going to miss the wedding reception. He's too busy holding and kissing the baby. Callie's dad, meanwhile, shows up to the reception, saying that he's been dreaming of dancing with her on her wedding day since she was little, so he turned the car around and came back to have his dance. Callie smiles and dances with her dad. Cast 720MeredithGrey.png|Meredith Grey 720CristinaYang.png|Cristina Yang 720AlexKarev.png|Alex Karev 720MirandaBailey.png|Miranda Bailey 720RichardWebber.png|Richard Webber 720CallieTorres.png|Callie Torres 720MarkSloan.png|Mark Sloan 720LexieGrey.png|Lexie Grey 720OwenHunt.png|Owen Hunt 720ArizonaRobbins.png|Arizona Robbins 720TeddyAltman.png|Teddy Altman 720AprilKepner.png|April Kepner 720JacksonAvery.png|Jackson Avery 720DerekShepherd.png|Derek Shepherd 720BarbaraRobbins.png|Barbara Robbins 720RobertStark.png|Robert Stark 720AndrewPerkins.png|Andrew Perkins 720DanielRobbins.png|Daniel Robbins 720LuciaTorres.png|Lucia Torres 720CarlosTorres.png|Carlos Torres 720Sefu.png|Sefu 720Judge.png|Judge 720Nurse.png|Nurse (right) 720Makena.png|Makena 720DJ.png|DJ 720DrunkGuy.png|Drunk Guy 720Kondo.png|Kondo 720Asha.png|Asha Main Cast *Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey *Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang *Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev *Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey *James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber *Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres *Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan *Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey *Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt *Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins *Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman *Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner *Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery *Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd Guest Stars *Judith Ivey as Barbara Robbins *Peter MacNicol as Dr. Robert Stark *James Tupper as Dr. Andrew Perkins *Denis Arndt as Daniel Robbins *Gina Gallego as Lucia Torres *Héctor Elizondo as Carlos Torres Co-Starring *Bambadjan Bamba as Sefu *Mark Chaet as Judge *Rachel Andersen as Nurse *Ameenah Kaplan as Makena *Jay Ellis as DJ *Oren Skoog as Drunk Guy *Jalen Harris as Kondo *Nina Monet Hudson as Asha Medical Notes Zola Limbani *'Diagnosis:' **Spina bifida *'Doctors:' **Derek Shepherd (neurosurgeon) **Alex Karev (surgical resident) *'Treatment:' **Shunt Zola, 6 months, was born with spina bifida. She was brought to Seattle as part of Alex's exchange program. Derek went into to look at her and she was crying. He explained to Makena that sometimes babies with spina bifida can develop chiari malformation, which causes fluid build-up. Adjusting the head position can relieve the pressure. Derek did this with Zola as he talked and she stopped crying. Derek said they'd run an MRI to see if she had chiari malformation or hydrocephalus. If she did, they'd need to do a shunt, which would postpone her spinal surgery, but it'd be worth it. The MRI revealed no chiari malformation, but she did have hydrocephalus, so he scheduled surgery to insert a shunt. Kondo *'Diagnosis:' **Pentalogy of cantrell **Ventricular septal defect *'Doctors:' **Arizona Robbins (pediatric surgeon) **Teddy Altman (cardiothoracic surgeon) **Mark Sloan (plastic surgeon) **Lexie Grey (surgical resident) **Cristina Yang (surgical resident) *'Treatment:' **Surgery Kondo was in Seattle to have his heart defect repaired. He didn't have a sternum, which caused the skin to attach direct to his heart and left his heart unprotected. Teddy would be fixing his heart defect and Mark was going to construct him a new sternum. ER Patient *'Diagnosis:' **Head laceration *'Doctors:' **Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon) **Cristina Yang (surgical resident) *'Treatment:' **B-52 cocktail **Staples Owen was trying to calm down a patient in the ER who was drunk. Cristina gave him a B-52 cocktail to calm him down. Owen then stapled his head laceration. Asha *'Diagnosis:' **AIDS **Abdominal injuries **Intestinal tuberculosis **Intestinal perforation *'Doctors:' **Robert Stark (pediatric surgeon) **Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon) **April Kepner (surgical resident) *'Treatment:' **Anti-biotics **Perforation repair **Anti-TB meds. Asha, 10, was injured in an explosion. She hadn't healed well and her condition was complicated by the fact that she was living with AIDS. Asha began to cough up blood, which was treated with packed cells. They couldn't stop the bleeding, so they rushed her into surgery. In the OR, they discovered intestinal TB. They continued with the perf repair and then planned to treat with anti-TB meds. They were able to finish the surgery without having to remove much of the bowel, avoiding short gut. Mrs. Brooks *'Diagnosis:' *'Doctors:' *'Treatment:' Father Brooks' wife was in an accident and she was taken to the ER, meaning he was unable to make the wedding. Music Grey's Anatomy 720 - Calahan - "Never Let You Go"|"Never Let You Go" - Calahan Love You Good - Trent Dabbs|"Love You Good" - Amy Stroup and Trent Dabbs Ryan Shaw - Morning, Noon & Night|"Morning, Noon & Night" - Ryan Shaw Janelle Monáe - Tightrope feat. Big Boi (Video)|"Tightrope" - Janelle Monáe Cee Lo Green - OLD FASHIONED (audio)|"Old Fashioned" - Cee Lo Green The Republic Tigers - The Infidel|"The Infidel" - The Republic Tigers Notes and Trivia *This episode's title originated from the song White Wedding, originally sung by Billy Idol. *This episode scored 10.11 million viewers. *This episode marked the first appearance of Derek and Meredith's first child, Zola. *Karev said that Zola was born with Spina Bifida with no Chiari Malformation. Every child who is born with Spina Bifida has Chiari Malformation, but only 10% have symptoms. As a doctor, Karev should know that Zola simply doesn't have symptomatic Chiari. Gallery Episode Stills WhiteWeddingCalArz.png Whitewedding.jpg 7x20-1.png 7x20-8.png 7x20-7.png 7x20-6.png 7x20-5.png 7x20-4.png 7x20-3.png 7x20-2.png 7x20-9.jpg 7x20-10.jpg 7x20-11.jpg 7x20-12.jpg 7x20-13.jpg 7x20-14.jpg 7x20-15.jpg 7x20-16.jpg 7x20-17.jpg 7x20-18.jpg 7x20-19.jpg Behind the Scenes 7x20BTS1.jpg 7x20BTS2.jpg 7x20BTS3.jpg Quotes :Cristina: You know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm such an exceptional surgeon that it threatens you. I'm sorry my surgical repair saved Callie's life and yours didn't. I'm sorry your ego is so fragile that I had to stand on the sidelines of a surgery I should have been performing with you today. I have been standing on the sidelines for the past three months basically ruining my chances for chief resident. You wanted sincerity? I could have not been more sincere. :Teddy: And you still don't get it, again. ---- :Bailey: OK, first of all, you do not need the law or a priest or your mother to make your wedding real. And the church can be anywhere you want it to be - In a field, on a mountain, right here in this room, anywhere because where do you think god is? Come on, He's in you. He's in me. Just right here, in the middle of us. Your church just hasn't caught up to God yet. Your mother, she hasn't caught up to God yet. And, by the way, she may not ever catch up, but it's OK. It's okay. If you are willing to stand up in front of your friends, family, and God, and commit yourself to another human being to give yourself in that kind of partnership for better or worse in sickness and in health. Hunny, that is a marriage. That is real, and that's all that matters. Besides, I got legally married in a church. Look how well that turned out. ---- :Derek: You know, I was holding her yesterday, and she was crying and then she stopped. And I've held a lot of babies; I've fixed a lot of babies. But, I looked down at Zola, and I don't know what it was, but I just couldn't imagine her being with any other parent or any other family. We've been trying so hard to start a family, and she needs one. Let's adopt her. I'm serious, let's adopt her. See Also Category:All Episodes Category:GA Episodes Category:GA S7 Episodes